A. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to grippers and, more particularly, comprises a finger gripper poviding a positive indication of the closure state of the fingers.
B. Prior Art
Fingered grippers are used to firmly grasp and position objects for a variety of purposes. For example, in manufacturing operations, fingered grippers can be used to hold an object and, in conjunction with other elements, orient and position it for subsequent operations such as assembly, packaging, etc.
As increasing numbers of such grippers are being used in automatic assembly operations, problems associated with failure of such grippers can multiply.
In particular, the failure of grippers to achieve a commanded closure state (e.g., fully open, partially open, fully closed, etc.) can not only impede manufacturing operations but can damage both the objects being handled and the machinery handling them. In order to guard against this, much attention has been focused on designing grippers which are extremely rugged so as to thereby help minimize the likelihood of failure. However, this leads to relatively expensive grippers and, as a practical matter, may preclude their application to tasks for which they otherwise are suitable.